


Pillars

by ShibaInuit



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Almost called it Larsabaster, Could get ugly, Lars flirts with everyone just to see what happens, Pillars AU, Then lars flirts with DANGER, WhiteDiamond!Lars, and it goes as well as you expect, probably going to go on for a while, updates once a week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-01 01:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17234549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShibaInuit/pseuds/ShibaInuit
Summary: “You ever get lonely, even when there’s people around?” An AU where Steven didn’t get the chance to revive Lars, but White diamond did. Lars will have to work a little harder to earn a redemption arc this time, especially after something happens to his memories...Thanks to Reddit for the prompt.





	1. Prologue - A String of Remembrances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a soundtrack for this chapter: https://soundcloud.com/mr-starderp-64/the-legend-of-zelda-triforce-heroes-water-stage
> 
> Not required in order to enjoy, just sets an ambiance for you.

_Ages and eons ago…_

Lars Barriga was unpacking boxes. This wasn’t his favorite task, just one he performed religiously to avoid looking at other people, or worse, his coworker Sadie. He was just settling into a routine of placing bags into shelves and boxes into cans when Steven strolled into the Big Donut.

Hastily, Lars turned his back to the attention-seeking child. The little bean was annoying at best and a dangerous hinderance at worst. Between Steven’s grating voice and tendency to lie about his ‘magical heritage,’ Lars wasn’t sure whether he wanted to buy earplugs or skip town.

Within seconds, a pair of flabby arms seized Lars’s waist. ‘Skip town’ won his inner poll. “LARS! LARS! Please tell me I’m dreaming!”

“Get off me man, I’m stockin’ here.”

Steven was screeching about something as usual. Sadie tried to calm him down, but there wasn’t much she could do. Steven’s favorite ice cream sandwiches had been discontinued. There was whining… and more whining… God, there was no way Steven could handle Lars’s life.

“Tough bits, man. Nobody buys them anymore. I guess they couldn’t compete with Lion Lickers,” he gloated in an attempt to shut the kid up.

“Not _Lion Lickers_! Nobody likes them! They don’t even look like lions! Kids these days — I’ll tell ya what,” Steven huffed.

Lars couldn’t help but giggle. ‘Kids these days’ was more accurate than Steven knew. “Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, why don’t you _make_ some with your _magic belly button?"_

Steven didn’t have a great response to that, Lars thought. Lion lickers won this round.

\--

Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck Dewey were flailing in some kind of green slop. It was sucking them in! In a panic, he and Steven raced to their side, pulling at the chocking vines. It wasn’t working. The moss dragged the group deeper.

Lars had endured enough interference. “This is all your fault,” he snarled. “I knew if something went wrong today it would be because of you! Now I'm never going to be friends with these guys. All because of your... weird mom!”

\--

“Well... there's... internal... bleeding. My hurt is on the inside,” Steven insisted. He nervously pet his cheek where the bandage had been covering the scrape.

“Toughen UP Steven!” Lars admonished. Steven had a whole arsenal of magic abilities, didn’t he? Why couldn’t he just heal himself and be on his way? Lars took his can of lunch sardines from the counter and began to fiddle with it.

“You… you’re right, I’m soft,” Steven admitted, holding his hands close. Lars rolled his eyes, annoyed that Steven would try to recreate that idiotic hand gesture he did from time to time.

“If I weren't so modest, I'd whip out my sweet six-pack,” Lars boasted, “and show you what a real man... looks like!” At least, he’d prove he could be better than Steven’s deadbeat dad… if this can would just…

Sadie took the can of sardines from his hand and popped it open. They locked eyes.

“Nah... I'm not gonna say thanks,” he groused. Sadie gave him a kick in the legs.

\--

“Hey, Lars, thanks for inviting us over,” Jenny called.

Lars hopped on the trampoline, feeling fresh ocean breeze cool his head. “It’s no problem,” he giggled, “'cause I got the whole day off by faking a severe back injury!”

The teens laughed, catching sweet air time.

Lars could have sworn just then he heard a box of donuts fall, but it must have been his imagination. He didn’t see any.

\--

Summer was here at last, and as Lars eyed the beach, he could see his plans now. The sand. The sun. The beach babes. Sadie turned to Lars, saying something to Steven about her summer. He paid just enough attention to catch “…Lars has big plans.”

 “You bet I do! All those out-of-town summer babes traveling away from home without their boyfriends, if you know what I mean.”

Steven didn’t seem to understand.

“Maybe I'll get a few numbers. Maybe I'll even... call one. Next time you see me, I'll be on the arm of a hot woman!”

Sadie didn’t look too happy about that.

\--

“Ugh! That social napalm? Do what you want, man. I got better things to do than wax weird with Beach City's biggest bozo, _Ronaldo_.”

\--

"F-F-F-F-F-F-B-D-F. That doesn't spell anything,” Steven admitted, staring at Lars’s report card. So much for respecting his privacy.

Lars’s parents held hands, gathering strength. “Please, Lars. We let you move into the attic, and your grades are still below average. All we're asking from you is... a little effort.”

Steven looked at them, missing the point. “Wow. You guys seem so nice. I'm sure I don't want to let either of you down. I, Lars, promise to go out and do my very best at being your son.” Steven stood to go out the door and find Sadie. As Lars, he could go make sure she had lots of fun on her day off!

Dante and Martha Barriga watched their son stand and… waddle out the door.

“Wow. He didn't even swear.”

\--

There was only one voicemail on Lars’s third absolutely-Steven-proof-this-time burner phone. Usually, he deleted extra mail, but he hadn’t gotten to this one yet.

“La-a-a-a-a-rs! I mean, Lars, hi. This is Steven. Uh, I was just wondering where you were. The potluck is going really great. Everyone's having a nice time, and we're all excited for you to come join the fun. Or maybe I just missed you and you're already back at the party... a-and that's the sound of you enjoying music with all our friends. Or… um, maybe you decided not to go inside. Th-That's okay, though. Guess I'll see you later.”

A purple yam cake sat in a trashcan somewhere.

\--

“Sadie was in trouble, and I didn't do anything. Actually, wait. I did do something. I ran and hid just like I always do. Just like I ran from the potluck.”

\--

“Whoa… whoa! Eat… this!” Lars shouted, bringing his hand down in a deadly arc. Here it was, his moment… his time to shine. The shard collided with the robonoid-


	2. Lars, but different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another music suggestion: https://soundcloud.com/lindseystomp/the-arena
> 
> I might update these from time to time + give multiple suggestions.

Lars’s eyes fluttered open. Steven was inches from him, as usual, and deathly quiet. It was… a little nice. For some reason, Steven was crying. What could be wrong this time? Maybe the fry shop had run out of fries? Not that Lars cared.

“Hey. What… What the heck just happened?” He asked.

Steven let it all out, clutching Lars like a security blanket. “Lars! You’re _BACK_! Ohmigosh a LOT of stuff happened! Are you ok? Are you-”

“Human Lars. Stand,” commanded a militaristic voice. Distracted by Steven’s sobbing, Lars only glanced up at the giant, white statue towering atop them. It was glowing the color of butterflies. Wait. On its chest, what were those… giant…

“Steven?”

Lars flipped his legs back, pushing up with both hands. There were two HUGE legs just in front of him, still glowing that pale color. They wore gorgeous, silvery heeled shoes.

“Alright now, I fixed up your toy. Run along and play, Pink.”

Steven looked up, the tears melting away. “WHAT-” Lars started. “does that giant crazy-chick mean by _toy_ -”

A huge bubble appeared around them, reverberating his shouts and phasing out most of the light. Lars shut his mouth, ears ringing. Steven’s lungs heaved, but he couldn’t help smiling at his friend. Lars’ hair looked a little lighter, but maybe that was normal? Homeworld was a completely alien planet, maybe the sunlight bleached human hair really fast. It was hard to tell what was going on here without any help.

The bubble popped, dropping them both off in a pastel pink room. Lars blinked, inhaling deeply. “Steven. _What is happening to us?!?”_

“Lars! Lars, it’s ok, it’s ok! We’re at the palace!”

“OK? Steven, _WHAT_? Who was that lady? Whose palace is this? Heck, do I even know anybody with a palace? Why am I… white?”

In the room’s pink light, Steven started to understand his friend’s rapidfire questions. Lars was, indeed, a different hue. He almost looked like he could be Sour Cream’s brother. Onion had that covered, though.

“Wow… I get it, haha. Even your hair is different.”

“Hey??? I don’t get it, Steven! _URRRGH_ , why am I stuck here with the least helpful kid in town!”

Steven looked legitimately hurt. His face fell. “Lars..? Don’t tell me… you’re not going weird on me too?”

“Well, I’m going weird on _me_ over here, and you’re NOT HELPING!” Lars barked. He fiddled with his torn shirt. “Hey this shirt is cool. Looks new.”

“Lars. I think… something’s wrong with you.”

“Well doy, genius!”

“No, I mean… different, wrong. You’ve had that shirt for months!”

“…Eww. You keep track?”

“A little.”

Lars slapped his palm across his own forehead. Nothing made sense, and nobody was explaining things. “Steven, just tell me what happened. I want to go home.”

“R-right. Umm.. Since you were away… um…”

“Away?”

“Away… from life.”

Lars rolled his eyes. “You thought I was dead?”

“Lars! You’ve been gone for like, two days!” Steven shouted, catching his attention. Lars took a step but tumbled on the floor. Tears were adorning the little boy’s face yet again. Lars almost felt bad for the punk. He felt significantly more for himself.

“Well, I’m here now, ok? Stop crying. Take it from the top.”

“You stopped the robonoids that were attacking us, but… one of them exploded, and - and you weren't moving, and… someone, ah, saw us, so… um…”

“Robonoids? I… I did something brave?”

“The off colors! Lars… tell me you remember the off colors!”

“Off colors? Is… is that why I’m white now?”

It was Steven’s turn to be frustrated, and it showed on his pudgy face. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“We were… hmm… hey. We were waiting for the ocean to come back. Did you put the ocean back yet? Did that giant lady do it? Oh no, Steven, what about all the beach city _babes_! Did I miss it?”

Steven stared blankly, but after a few seconds, he could place what Lars meant. The time Lapis stole the sea trying to get to Homeworld happened years ago. “Lars… that can’t be right. What about you and Ronaldo at Halloween? The trial? The time we got trapped on an island with Sadie? Or, or what about the time we switched bodies?”

Lars scooted back from Steven, crab crawling right to the wall. “Steven! Why would we switch bodies? Why would I ever want to be YOU?”

That was the final straw. Steven curled into a ball. He’d done something worse trying to bring Lars back. He screamed, wishing he could take it all back. What good was his heroic sacrifice if he’d only gotten four of them home safe? Lars… was he even really Lars?

A bell chimed. The door to their room opened, and two much smaller ladies appeared. “Pink Diamond, my diamond has requested your presence.”

“My diamond has also requested your presence,” queried the other, far more gently.

Lars crossed his arms. “Alright, you two, SCRAM! Can’t you see he’s hurt? Tell your stupid DIAMONDS or whatever to shove off! We don’t need you!”

In between hiccupping breaths, Steven noticed Lars screaming. “Stop Lars, _hic_ , we-“

“SHUT UP, STEVEN! You… you ruined EVERYTHING! Grrrah! I hate you!”

He stormed off through the empty door, leaving a distraught Steven and two aggrieved pearls behind.

“Lars!” Steven called, racing after his only friend.


	3. A Walkabout the Palace

Lars’ long legs made him difficult to catch, but after a convoluted jaunt through several twisty hallways and down oddly angled stairways, Steven caught up. That wasn’t too hard when one had floating powers and when one’s target didn’t know where to go. Lars was coiled into himself, leaning against a wall.

“Hey Lars,” Steven greeted, gently sitting next to his friend. No response.

“Lars, I…” Steven fought for the right words, still breathless from his frantic search. “I’m sorry I got you into this. You might not remember, but… on Aquamarine’s ship, we talked about things. You… you’re really brave.”

“That’s just great Steven,” Lars snarked. “I’m totally going to _brave_ us out of here. We’ll be riding out of town in no time on… on Mayor Dewey’s giant van, yeah.”

Steven grimaced at yet another thing Lars was missing. “Lars. Stop,” he commanded. “Don’t worry, ok? I put us here, I’ll get us out.” Lars rolled his eyes. When was Steven ever not responsible for space sci-fi weirdness around town? More importantly, had he ever actually fixed anything? Sitting around and taking orders was not his idea of a good time.

Lars took another good, long look at his newly albino hands. “…I still don’t know whose palace this is. Can we start there?”

“Sure. Let’s start over. H-hi, I’m Steven.”

“I know you’re Steven!” Lars grumbled, retreating again.

“Right! And you’re… still Lars. We’ve both lived in Beach City for as long as I can remember. A bunch of stuff happened that you don’t remember so good. One of my other friends, Lapis… she took the ocean into space to try and get to here. That’s where we are right now, Homeworld. But, uh, that ocean thing happened years ago before we got kidnapped into space-”

“Space?” Lars scuttled up again, apprehensively building some distance between them. “Steven. How. Did. We. Get. To. Space?”

“Ahahaa… ummm… that’s a long story too…” Steven couldn’t look Lars quite in the eye.

“Reader’s digest version, come on,” Lars prompted, leaning forwards.

“My mom… she… oh my god that’s at least another _hour_ …”

“Ok, fine, Steven. A lot of stuff happened, and I… died, and you and your weird mom somehow got us stuck in space, and there’s a bunch of crazy giant ladies, and everything except me is pink. Is that everything important that’s going on here?”

“No,” Steven admitted. “I turned myself in for war crimes my mom committed but didn’t actually commit in exchange to free you, Sadie, Connie, Jamie and Onion from these two… um, mercenaries? But it didn’t work because you accidentally came with me, and I got sentenced to punishment, but then we escaped, then we found these really cool gems, those are the off colors. Everyone says are defective, but they totally aren’t, because-”

Lars wasn’t following, but he paid enough attention to roll his eyes at Steven. “Uggh, come on. Bottom line.”

“They’re important! Lars, I still haven’t figured out if the off colors are safe or not!”

A loud sigh. “Big whoop. We don’t know if I’M safe or not!”

Steven had to admit that was fair, but he didn’t want to think about it. Quietly, he said, “you gave your life helping to defend them.”

Lars froze. “Why would I do that?”

“…the last few years, you’ve really grown. You saw they were in trouble and tried to hide them, but I don’t think it worked. Then you… you attacked the giant robonoids that were going to destroy them. The last robonoid… exploded.”

An uncomfortable silence held the two of them together for a few moments. Taking it all in was too much at once. Lars’ eyes wandered, looking at the upside-down ceilings and bizarre, humanesque sculptures littered around them.

“You said years a couple of times, but you also said I was gone two days. Which is it?”

“… I think, some of your memories are gone,” Steven admitted, twiddling his thumbs. “You got hit two days ago, and you weren’t moving. You didn’t have a heartbeat.”

“…You’re sure?” Lars reached for his neck.

“Yeah. But a lot of stuff happened before you… um… died. You were working at the big donut a lot… but you made friends with Buck, and Sour Cream and Jenny! They’re really cool. You even had a cool catchphrase! Bingo bongo.” Steven snapped his hands like finger guns.

“Bingo bongo, huh,” Lars mumbled. _Stupid_. “I can’t… feel a heartbeat. What… what does that mean?”

“No way? Lemme check.” Steven reached over, bending to touch Lars’ neck too, but the teenager recoiled.

“Get off, hey!”

“You said you couldn’t feel your heart beating? I was just gonna see.”

Lars flung out a hand in defense, turning the opposite direction. “Here. Use my wrist. Personal space, kid, geez.”

Steven nodded, doing as told. He counted the seconds on his other hand. Everything was quiet.

-

-

-

There. He felt a weak pulse, once. Lars pulled his hand away, rubbing it with his other palm.

“Lars, I felt it!”

“Really.”

“Yeah! But.. um, you pulled away right after. You felt it too?” Steven asked. Lars mumbled something and pivoted his shoulder away. He didn’t seem up for more chatting.

“At least you’re not a zombie? I think? Are you hungry for brains?”

“I’m not hungry,” Lars admitted, poking his stomach.

“You haven’t eaten in days though,” Steven admonished, reaching into his pocket. “Here, I saved some of the apple I got.” He withdrew a burgundy crimson square. “These are made in the human zoo.”

“the wHAT-”

“Sorry! Sorry! Let me explain that better,” Steven said, shushing his friend.

Lars stood up and got ready to run again, beyond confused and in no mood to listen. Steven was slightly quicker though. The pudgy marshmallow of a boy dropped his ‘fruit’ and clung to Lars’ leg with the strength of an industrial vice. Lars shook, but it didn’t work. Steven glued himself to his pants and stayed there.

“Steven. Off.”

“No! If you go running again, we’ll get lost or separated!”

“So what? We’re lost on the whole planet. Can’t get any more lost than that.” Hesitantly, Steven put his feet back on solid ground. Lars yanked his leg back but stayed put. Everything was quiet. Light glimmered in from a window on the high wall.

“Human zoo. How much do I want to know?”

“My mom… before the gems waged war on Earth, she set up a sanctuary to protect humans. That’s the only place they could get me any food from. Let me know when you’re hungry, ok?”

“…yeah.”

They sat there for a moment, not sure what to say. Lars could only think of Steven as the annoying little kid… but something was different about him. But he looked the same age, how could it have been years? He had so many questions, and Steven was complete rubbish at answering them, and there were a few things Lars didn’t even want to ask.

“There a mirror around here?” he asked.

“Oh! Yeah. There’s a couple probably. Come on, let’s go explore a little. It’s not every day we get to see a whole other planet.”

Lars wouldn’t agree with that logic on one of his best days, but he didn’t want to sit around either. “Let’s go, then.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~

They didn’t find much besides vacant hallways and locked doors, but with careful backtracking, they arrived at what they tentatively labeled Pink’s room. Along the way, Steven filled Lars in on what little he knew of Homeworld.

White Diamond, leader of the Diamond Authority, head matriarch, and the gem responsible for Lars’ transformation, was not one for conversation. Yellow and Blue, the other two diamonds who had summoned him earlier, had been trying that for days. Steven had the gem of Pink Diamond, the youngest of the bunch. The diamonds ruled over several colonies and oversaw most of the confusing technicalities governing them. Pink, however, didn’t have a colony, so Steven wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing.

“Do you think I should try to talk to White and get some answers?” Steven asked.

“I think you might need to talk to those, uh, Pearls first,” Lars commented, entering the pink room.

Now the two of them weren’t totally sure why they had come back. Fortunately, they were saved the trouble of pondering their next move by a bell chime. The door to Pink’s room opened to reveal a picture-perfect Yellow Pearl. She looked like she hadn’t gotten any sleep, but gems didn’t need sleep. Steven wasn’t sure if he should, but he felt sorry for making her wait so long.

“My diamond requests your presence,” she said. Every syllable came out enunciated. Lars squished his face up in disgust. She sounded more nasally than Steven! She waited in place, not looking at either human.

Steven turned to Lars, fidgeting with his red, starred shirt. “Can you come with me?”

“Eh… diamonds, huh? Not interested.” Lars turned his back.

“ _Please_ Lars?” Steven pled. Lars didn’t answer. “Fine. Be that way. Please, just, don’t get lost? I’ll come back for you.” Steven joined Yellow Pearl, strolling down the hall, letting the door shut behind them.

Lars still hadn’t found a mirror, and he couldn’t seem to find his phone anywhere. He figured there was probably a mirror somewhere around here, but looking at the empty, featureless room, there wasn’t a place to start looking. He approached the window, hoping for a glass reflection, but couldn’t see anything. He stuck a hand out into open air. No good.

He stepped into the room proper again. There was a hand symbol on the wall, about his size, and nothing else. It all felt… quiet.

Maybe sticking with Steven wouldn’t be so bad. Now that Lars had some time to think, the kid’s voice wasn’t nearly so grating as it was only a few days ago, it seemed. The youngest crystal gem acted less like a doughball and more like a… person. Still too much an overly scared and sympathetic and clingy person than Lars preferred, but better than before. Lars looked down and wasn’t sure if he was quite human himself. Every time he had a second to think, he didn’t want to think about anything anymore, but when Steven was being his usual self, he just wanted space. He felt a little bit emo, with the pale skin, torn black clothes and all. Did he even… still have blood? That was too dark to think about.

Fine. He’d go find Steven again, just to have something to do. Waiting around with literally nothing but a view wasn’t as relaxing as it sounded on travel brochures. Well, finding Steven would be a piece of cake after that earlier ordeal.

He walked up to the room’s door. God, was everything here color coded?

“Open sesame.” Nothing happened.

 _Maybe it’s automatic_ , he wondered. He stood closer, but the shiny surface didn’t budge.

He wandered over to the hand controls. They were splayed flat and horizonal, palm down. Lars huffed, kicked at an imaginary rock on the ground, and placed his hand on the tile. With no extra fanfare, the door slid up. Simple.

A few steps carried him out and downwards, where he could see dirt and skid marks from Steven’s flip flops. They made a perfect trail to follow.

In minutes, he caught up. “Hey,” he called. “Over here!”

Steven turned. His dour, frightened expression immediately perked up, and he raced backwards from Yellow Pearl. “Lars! You found us?”

“Yeah. I was just kidding! No way in heck would I miss the chance to flirt with fifty-foot women. The guys back home will never believe this.”

Steven jittered to a halt, just in front of Lars. “That’s a _really_ bad idea.”

“Why?”

“…um… ‘cuz that’s what my dad did, and now I’m living through the fallout?”

Lars laughed, gesturing to Yellow Pearl. “They’re just women. Nothing we can’t handle, right? Have you seen these guns?” He turned to Steven, flexing his twig-like arms. “Who cares if they’re super tall? This one is me-sized. Are there even any other guys here?”

Steven shrugged. He hadn’t seen any before, but that didn’t mean there weren’t some. “Gems are actually genderless,” he noted. Lars rolled his eyes and stepped out the door to follow Yellow Pearl.

Pearl guided them along a short walk through a hallway lined with whispering gems. They stopped at some kind of decorative chamber. Odd, geometric body sculptures lined the walls. A smooth door slid open at their arrival, steam pouring from the open architecture.

“Pink Diamond,” the gem signaled, pointing into the room. Steven stared, not sure what to say. “Have a nice extraction.”

“Ok, thanks,” he nodded, signaling to Lars. The two moved to enter when Yellow Pearl held out a hand.

“Please leave your… attendant,” she signaled.

“ _Attendant!_?” Lars growled. “You think I’m a servant??”

“…um, maybe it’s for the best,” Steven noted, tugging at the collar on his star shirt. “It’s kind of hot in there. A-and…”

“Fine. Whatever,” Lars snapped, sitting against the wall. “Do what you want to do, I’ll do what I want.”

Steven nodded, looking back at his friend. “I’m not leaving you behind for long, not if I can help it. I’ll fix… whatever this is.” Lars didn’t retort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shiba inu in a puffy hat snuggles into a bathrobe.
> 
> "Happy new year!" The shiba barks.
> 
> You nod, appreciatively. 2019 will be a very good year if the shiba has anything to do with it.


	4. Getting Up to Mischief

Lars waited patiently, twiddling his thumbs. Yellow Pearl wasn’t moving. Aside from the sounds of running water from inside the closed room, everything was silent and eerie.

“Hey,” he barked, turning to her. “How long are we supposed to wait here?”

Yellow Pearl shot him a look that could melt butter. “We are to remain here as we were left until our diamonds require our services.” She sniffed, turning the opposite direction for good measure. _That was rude_ , Lars thought.

“ _Our_ diamonds? Get real,” He said, standing to his full height. If it weren’t for the updo on Yellow Pearl’s hair, he would tower completely over her. “Steven’s just a person like me. He’s not special.”

“You oughtn’t talk like that!” the Pearl admonished. “If you keep talking behind your master’s back-”

“Pah!” Lars grandstanded. “Master? What is wrong with you? Steven’s a total wimp! You want to see somebody who really deserves to rule here, sugar?” He leaned forward towards Yellow Pearl, moving to place his hand against the wall behind her, kabe-don style. “Think you can handle me?”

Yellow Pearl shivered, cowering against the back wall. “G-get away, please,” she whispered. She cringed back, protecting her face with her arms. Lars, feeling a moment of guilt, took a step back.

“…sorry,” he mumbled, not quite meaning it. Yellow Pearl looked away, concealing a nervous blush. She shook her head, totally distracted. She was supposed to be on guard duty! On lookout! Her radiant diamond would be beyond furious to see her loyal, prized pearl engage with this nonsensical prat! Yellow stared burn marks into the architecture.

“…I, um, lost a lot of my memory,” Lars admitted, trying to start again. There wasn’t much else to do but talk to her. “How come you all speak English?”

Yellow did not respond. Maybe there was some kind of magic forcefield or something that let them all understand each other? Lars couldn’t guess and Steven wasn’t anywhere nearby to ask. Steven didn’t seem to really understand much more than he did, aside from the whole ‘diamond’ title. It sounded important.

“What does it mean to be a diamond?” Lars tried, hopeful. Yellow Pearl seemed the type to get uptight about things like that.

“Have you been living under a rock since Era 1???” Yellow squeaked in horror, turning to Lars in slow motion. Bingo.

“Hey, I thought you all were rocks, so…”

“Our flawless, opulent, glistening, sparkling Diamonds are the most supreme beings in the galaxy! Surely even a cad like you could-”

The sauna door opened, and out stepped the giant woman again. Pearl fell utterly silent.

“Come, Pearl,” came a tenor voice the volume of Sour Cream’s amp kit. Two massive legs strutted, stepping nearly on top of a scrambling Lars. He dodged the footstep, but the ground shook as it landed. Steven trailed loosely behind the tree-tall woman, completely coated in sweat. His shirt clung like mold. For whatever reason, he couldn’t help but smile wide as a saucer. Something must have gone well? Or he was happy to not be slow cooking anymore. With a waving motion, he beckoned Lars to his side. For lack of an alternative, he obeyed.

“That’s Yellow,” Steven whispered.

“Yeah, I guessed that,” Lars sniped. “She’s huge!”

The sound echoed uncomfortably. Yellow stopped, pivoted in her tracks. “Pink. Watch your… organic more closely. I don’t want to hear it speak in my presence ever again.”

Steven’s smile vanished into a thin line. Lars looked ready to rip her a new one, but her sheer size left him too in awe to think of how to do so. Her hair alone could have fit an eighteen wheeler in it. In a hurry, the giantess vanished.

The pair waited in silence. Lars, after some thought, wasn’t feeling so chatty. He felt like he was falling way too easily into whatever lock-step was expected of him, but how could he not? Everything was new here.

“…that almost went well,” Steven admitted. “Anyway. We’re supposed to go find blue diamond.”

“…is blue… gonna be like that too?” Lars whispered.

“I don’t know,” Steven said, shuffling the same way Yellow Diamond had gone. There was no hope of keeping up with the giantess, but that was for the best. “She said just go back the way we came and Blue Pearl will get us.”

Lars shrugged. “I’m not sure if we should, not after _that_.”

“She was plenty nice inside... I don’t know what they think of you, but it can’t be all bad! White Diamond, she _healed_ you-”

“Barely.”

“It was enough,” Steven declared. He looked at his sweaty hands, trying to dry them on his shirt. That was a uniquely futile gesture. “I… I’m glad you’re stuck with me. H-how sad is that?”

Lars balked, but let it slide. He had made enough enemies for one day. “Pretty sad, kid.” Steven couldn’t argue with that logic.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ *~

Their trek back was thankfully linear, thanks to Steven’s flip flop tracks. They only stopped at one turn around point, a staircase with a regal bannister. Steven couldn’t help but suggest they climb the staircase, just to slide down it. Lars had disagreed, knowing that they couldn’t have come this way, and that going up and down stairs wasted their energy. Steven reached into his pocket for the apple slice before realizing it was gone and agreed. He was going to need food again soon.

Blue Pearl was waiting for them outside Steven’s room. The minute they got there, she saluted and gave a dainty curtsey. Lars couldn’t help but stare at her. Why did everyone dress in leotards? They made Steven look normal by comparison.

“My diamond has requested your presence,” she lilted, extending a hand in the only direction the pair of humans hadn’t yet explored. It was an upwards elevator with more complex hand controls. Steven couldn’t reach them unless he jumped. The door was wide enough to fit one of the massive ladies, though, and so all three fit comfortably inside.

“Going up,” Blue Pearl warned. Gently, the elevator rose.

“…come here often?” Lars mumbled, edging towards the Pearl. She didn’t respond. Steven giggled, and Lars shot him a look.

“No,” Blue Pearl replied. “This palace hasn’t been used in eons, so there was no purpose in travelling here before today.”

Embarassed, Lars leaned against the glass wall. The elevator continued upwards for some time. Steven sat crosslegged, imagining what Connie must be feeling. He missed her incredibly.

“We’ve arrived,” Blue Pearl noted, opening the door. Lars jumped out, eager to be moving again. With some hesitation, Steven followed.

The hallway here was no longer bright pink, but covered in soft, lavender hues. Lilac gems covered the walls, guarding the entrance to the room. Like the ones guarding Yellow Diamond’s extraction chamber, these gems ignored Steven and Lars, snapping to attention. Steven tried not to acknowledge them so as not cause any more undue embarrassment.

Lars had no such compunction. “Hey, you up there! What time is it?” The wall gems stared at each other, unsure how to reply or whether they even should.

“Lars, I don’t know if they measure time the way we do,” Steven noted, stopping in the middle of the hallway. “They don’t have any watches that I’ve seen.”

Things were quiet. Blue Pearl waited patiently, but neither human budged. Steven didn’t want to push Lars and Lars… didn’t want to be pushed. He started to seriously consider how he could possibly wake up from this nightmare. Gosh, Sadie would laugh at him in the morning if he told her what he’d seen, huh?

“Steven. This place… you called it homeworld.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“How far from Earth is it?”

Steven shrugged. “A bunch of lightyears.”

Lars shook his head. “Ok. Whatever. Let’s just… do that thing you needed to do. Then we’ll go home.”

Steven nodded, glad that he and Lars at least agreed on something. “Yeah. Let’s get home and see everybody.”

Blue Pearl began to move, right on some silent cue. The two humans were guided all the way to another room, much like the first. Huge sculptures adorned the walls here too. With a gentle swish, two wide doors opened for Steven. Steam wasn’t pouring out this time, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t still get hot. Blue Pearl silently gestured towards it with an open palm.

“This is called an extraction chamber,” Steven said, flinging his damp shirt onto the ground. “It’s like a sauna or something.”

“…extraction? What does it… um, extract?”

“…No idea,” Steven admitted. “It’s not that bad. I guess it’s a stress thing? It’s kind of nice. Want to come in this time?”

“Better not,” Lars noted. “The other giant lady didn’t like me.” Steven cringed, remembering Yellow Diamond’s warning. “I’ll chill here.”

Steven nodded and entered, flashing Lars a smirk. “We’ll be home in no time. Hang in there.” The door shut behind Steven as he stepped into the extraction chamber. Again, Lars was left to wait in silence with only a pearl for company. What a drag.

Lars picked up the rumpled star T-shirt, wringing it in his hands. It gave him something to do. Water dribbled down the marble staircase, pooling in a lump.

“Where do you get these, Steven?” he mumbled. Curious, he flipped the garment inside out, looking for some store name or similar. He’d never met anyone in his life who dressed so specifically as that kid. It was impossible not to notice how he wore the same shirt all the time. Unless Steven had like twenty of them. _But that’s stupid. Who the heck buys twenty of the same shirt?_ He thought.

“Welcome to Homeworld,” whispered Blue Pearl. “Are you an Earth gem?”

Lars slowly glanced up. Blue Pearl had scooted closer to him, presumably staring at his task. He couldn’t see her eyes under a thick layer of hair though.

He smirked. Maybe this one would be a little more regular. Maybe there was time to turn this dream into something else before Steven got back from his errand. “Oh, I’m an… Earth gem, alright.”

“Lovely,” she lilted.

“You bet I am,” he purred, standing to his full height. He nearly towered above her, but she didn’t look fazed by the height difference this time. “Want me to show you how us Earth Gems relax?”

Blue Pearl did not react. Lars waited patiently, but they only stood still.

“Hey… I bet you’re beautiful under all that hair,” he murmured, extending a hand to her cheek to gently stroke it. Blue Pearl didn’t react, frozen in place. She didn’t even shake. What, had he been too forward?

Gently, he brushed her hair from her face. “There’s nothing to be worried abou- gAHH!”

She only had one eye, situated to her left. As soon as Lars hopped away, hair fell back over the appendage. No wonder she grew her hair out.

“Ohhhhh k,” Lars squeaked, backing against the wall. “You… uh… look…”

Something moved behind Lars. In a panic, he turned to face the giant statue behind him. It was _wiggling its toes._

“That’s it!” Lars declared, throwing down the shirt. Forget Steven, he had to get out of here and wake up, **now**. How… how could he do that? He’d been running around all day, it seemed, so exercise was out. He looked down the side of the staircase platform at a soft, waterfall blue pool. Maybe some cold water could do the trick?

He squatted over the edge, facing down the two-story drop over still water. He’d… already died, according to Steven, hadn’t he? So this might not even hurt. Yeah. He steeled his courage, took a step back, and… walked.

_SPLASH!_

“Aaaahah!!!!” he screeched, flailing in the water.

“Are you alright?” Blue Pearl called, looking at him from over the stair platform.

“C-C-Cold!” He shouted, struggling to keep on the surface. As he said, the water was icy cold. His skin prickled into goosebumps, and it took everything in his power to stay afloat in the motionless water. After a few seconds, he settled to treading water.

A large, gushing noise welled up from below. What could that mean?

WHOOSH! A current slammed into Lars, submerging him.

“bllllrrbblle!” he managed, trying to paddle against an unseen wave. He was being pushed away from the chamber, out to the entrance they came from. His entire body shook, struggling twice as hard to move and going too slowly to make a difference. The cold sapped his strength as the current battered him about.

“You’re swimming,” Blue Pearl noted, standing up from her perch.

“H-HELP!” Lars screeched, scrabbling at the stone steps as he passed by them. His fingers slipped, unable to find traction. Blue Pearl gave no sign that she’d heard him. Lars’ head bobbed underwater and he coughed up large bubbles.

“P-pppshh-pearl!” He cried, spitting fluid.

The current swirled, whirlpooling like a drain. His shoulder slammed into a wall, and he shook with the body impact. In moments cool water flowed over the wound, numbing the blow… and everything else.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and he fell away from the swirling current. He shivered, not able to feel the warmth returning to his body, but grateful that the cold had fallen away. All of his normally coherent thoughts felt jumbled. Maybe he had finally figured out how to wake up from this creepy nightmare.

“Oh, Pink… your organic…” somebody chirped, the sound muffled in Lars’ ears by the feeling of shock. “it’s got water damage.”

“Lars!” Steven shouted, his voice cutting through the haze. “Let me see him!” Lars’ eyes darted aimlessly before settling on the shirtless boy reaching his arms… up at him? He looked down, feeling something firm. He was resting on something cerulean blue. “Lars! What happened? Are you ok? You’re soaking!”

With difficulty, he nodded. Somebody set him down on solid ground.

“You have to be more careful about training it,” Blue Diamond said, brushing Lars’ shirt. He audibly grunted at the strong pressure. “Didn’t you just get it repaired?”

Steven turned to shoot her a look but couldn’t muster the right feeling for it. He was still too concerned. Tears welled in his frightened eyes. “Lars… you jumped in the water? Right? Are you… ok?”

Lars nodded. “C-corld.”

“Corl?”

“Collll,” Lars corrected, chattering all the time.

“Cold! Blue Diamond, do you have something warm for Lars?”

“…not on hand. Pearl, go heat up Pink’s pet.”

Blue Pearl nodded, crouching near the shivering Lars. Steven noticed his discarded shirt on the ground, grabbing it. Delicately, he moved to dry Lars’ hair with it while Pearl did… whatever she was planning to do.

“Pink, Pearl can take care of it. There’s no need to make such a fuss.”

Steven ignored her completely, resting a hand on Lars’ forehead. Lars leaned into the touch, feeling the warmth break through his growing headache.

Blue Pearl, meanwhile, snuggled Lars into her arms. Her gem began to glitter.

“…S-steven? Get off m-eee!”

Lars shot back, colliding with a twisty pillar behind him. His eyes were fully alert again. Blue Pearl stood and curtseyed while Steven knelt in place, holding his newly drenched shirt. Wrinkled dotted its surface.

“Lars, do you feel alright?”

“…sure,” Lars acknowledged, staring that the giant blue lady towering before him. “Steven, what’s… umm…” He fell silent, in awe of the massive figure before him. He blushed.

“Haha! I can see why you like this Lars of yours, Pink,” Blue Diamond murmured, clutching her heart. “What a mischief maker. It’s completely fine!”

Steven didn’t know how to respond, torn between frustration and still needing the diamond’s cooperation.

Lars stood and headed over to his friend. He wanted to put the whole embarrassing incident behind him. “Steven… what was your meeting about?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

Steven startled to attention. “Oh yeah! Blue Diamond, about the… thing?”

“Yes, Pink,” she crooned, extending a hand to Steven. He stepped onto it eagerly, holding his own open for Lars. “We’ll go see it now.” Hesitantly, Lars joined Steven on the giant blue hand. It was cozily radiating warmth. “Come along, Pearl!”

“Where are we going?” Lars whispered to Steven, taking a seat next to him for stability. Blue was exceptionally delicate with them, cradling them to her fluffy, pastel hair.

“That’s just it, Lars… we’re going home!”


	5. Homeworld

Their journey from the second extraction chamber was much less complicated. Since they were being carried to their destination, Lars and Steven didn’t have to guess where they were going. Steven put on his wrinkly shirt, trying to stave off the strong winds rushing past them as Blue Diamond walked. Homeworld wasn’t as warm and snugly as he had hoped; now all of the saunas and pools made sense.

Lars was shivering too but didn’t have things nearly as bad. Something in his skin seemed to repel the water, leaving his hair fluffy and his body dry. His shirt was another matter entirely, and like Steven, he had to wring his clothes out. The pair looked like a rogue dishwater had attacked them.

“We’re almost there,” Blue encouraged, nuzzling Steven with her thumb. He pushed her off gently. Blue giggled, glad that ‘Pink’ was responding to her again. She had been so _dreadfully_ dour the last few days, but that was to be expected after so long a stay on such a horrid planet. Blue grimaced just thinking about what Earth must have been like, regardless of what Pink had said in the extraction chamber.

“Steven, I hope you’re right about this,” Lars muttered under his breath. “I don’t know if she really is ok with letting us leave.”

“No way,” Steven promised. “She said we’d get the bubbled gems from Earth. She can’t get them without me! The temple only opens for my gem, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, and our fusions. We’ll stop by the town and you can see Sadie and your folks and go home.”

That all sounded like a basket of roses to Lars, but he wasn’t convinced. Not that he seemed able to convince Steven otherwise. “I still think this is some crazy dream.”

Steven frowned. “It does feel like that… but don’t try to jump off anything again. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Lars shrugged. “I don’t want to be here, so nobody gets to be happy.”

“I’m being serious. I don’t know if they can heal you twice.”

“…Hi serious, I’m Lars.”

Steven’s mouth quirked into a reluctant smile. Attentively noting the current conversation, Blue Diamond approached a doorway. Opaque, satin curtains covered the portal, and a detachment of indigo blue gems stood at attention by it. Steven didn’t recognize their gem type, but they looked somewhat like Lapis.

“We’re going outside!” Steven cheer-whispered to Lars. “The surface level of the planet is supposed to be beautiful. Pearl talks about it a lot.” He remembered when Pearl almost killed them trying to get into space. Good times.

“…listen, now,” Blue Diamond commented, lowering her hand for the pair to step off. Her eyebrows knit, then relaxed. “Since you crashed my palanquin, we’ll have to make the journey on _sankayan_. Please remember to keep quiet for the other gems.”

“Sankayan?” Steven asked. “What’s a sankayan?”

Lars had heard the word before, somehow, but couldn’t place where from. He twiddled his fingers, reached far back into his memory, and drew a blank.

“It’s a gem-powered litter,” Blue hummed. “For walking distance travel. Oh, Pink, you used to love riding in public. Maybe a trip in the fresh air can help you remember.” On an invisible cue, the curtains slid back. Steven got a full view of a rectangular house, perched delicately along the ground. It was liberally coated in decorative fabrics full of geometric patterns.

“It looks like somebody could live in there.”

“Heavens, no,” Blue chuckled. “That old thing? I’m surprised the Sodalites can keep it this clean.”

Lars stopped caring and proceeded to natter at the edge of his black shirt. Steven hopped around, investigating the odd structure with enthusiasm. His newly white fingers contrasted too strongly for his taste against the cloth. He almost had to blink away the sight.

Was this how white people felt?

“LARS!” Steven cawed, nestled snugly inside the sankayan. Blue was kneeling next to him “We’re goooooiiiinnnng! Come on!”

He rejoined the party, hesitantly sitting cross-legged with Steven on the floor.

“Proceed,” Blue hummed, resting primly on her legs. Steven watched her settle in place attentively.

At once, the entire sankayan rose with a _whuff_. It slunk forward, crawling towards another curtained opening. This one was much larger, and adorned in purple, shimmering threads and beads. More blue gems positioned themselves at the gate, lifting the shimmering fabric.

They were now outside, overlooking a fantastical street. Steven couldn’t tear his eyes away: huge stone structures, buildings so tall he couldn’t see their tops past the cloud cover. Weird wires, almost like fork tines, snaked around every edifice and linked countless miles of open air. Lumps of something solid slid between each one, like electrical charges. The sankayan itself was nearly floating along a street paved in silvery tones, and everywhere at once, majestic gems stopped short, reflecting their admiration in their trademark salutes. The whole street was airborne, and fell off in wedge-slopes. Eager to take a deeper look, Steven leaned from the sankayan-

“ _Pink_ ,” she hissed.

He turned to her, saw the trace fear in her eyes, and leaned back in. She nodded. “Wave, if you must look.”

He followed her advice, gesturing like a wild madman at the crowds of assorted gems. He couldn’t see how many there were in the distance, or below the elevated street, but what few gems were permitted along their pathway blushed deep colors. One Ruby guard even relaxed for a smile, a real smile, right up at Steven’s eyes. In an instant, she returned to her prim salute. Steven only grinned back, glad they had shared a private moment. He turned and caught a glimpse of the underside of the sankayan.

Hundreds. Hundreds of tiny, curtain-moving gems were lifting up the sankayan on their backs.

“Blue Diamond…” Steven whispered, pointing below them. “The sanka-”

“Shh,” She reproached. “The sodalites can hear.”

Those poor gems underneath, what had they done to deserve such treatment? He understood now why the Palanquin had been fitted with spindly spider legs. He blushed, ashamed that he had been so excited to see Homeworld. If it was all this brutish, he wanted nothing to do with it. The street wound around a corner, and branched into a deeper, sumptuous setting. The two humans did their best not to disturb the peace, instead contenting themselves to look out the slowly passing window. In contrast to their first glimpses, the expanse of terrain felt empty. There were a lot of structures that looked great, but were on every street. The many features blent in to each other, and no one building felt distinct anymore. Lars wondered why they hadn't tried palette swapping anything yet. 

The sodalites had taken them all the way to a different place, like some big storeroom or a dry dock. Boxes full of supplies littered the massive room. Despite the spacious ceiling, Blue had to crouch down to step safely from the litter. All at once, rows of gem soldiers haphazardly stood in place to salute. Steven hopped down, and Lars couldn’t help but want to kiss the ground.

“Be on your way, now,” Blue chirped to the crowd. “We’re here to watch.”

The sodalites and quartzes dispersed. Steven watched his carriers slink behind a corridor, holding in what must have been severe exhaustion. They rushed to stay out of sight, so he turned away. In the same motion, Steven saw a string of purple faces lurking behind a corner that he recognized.

“The famethysts!” He cried, shaking Lars to catch his attention. “Look, those are the gems that work at the human zoo!”

Lars recoiled. “You still never explained that.”

Steven opened his mouth to comment but couldn’t find the right words. The more he thought about the place, the worse he felt.

“Whoa… they’re never going to live that down.”

“Live what down?” Lars queried.

“Yes, Pink, live _what_ down?” Blue chimed in, noticing their curious conversation with growing hope. “You were talking about the… amethysts at your zoo?”

Steven looked at Blue Diamond, making a few horrible connections at once. Should he fess up? How much could he admit of his zoo escapade? Would Blue be mad that he had heard her singing? Would admitting he was half human that help her understand how he was different from Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz?

“YOUR zoo???” Lars blurted, horrified.

“Lars! It’s not like that!”

“Well, it is your zoo, Pink.”

“…Steven. I’m Steven now,” he corrected. “Maybe the amethysts can help explain? Let’s go ask them!”

“…Alright, Stee-ven. I suppose we can do that.” Blue cast a deadly look at the Amethyst cluster hiding behind some supplies. “Your diamond requires your services,” she summoned.

Other gems in the room scrambled out of the way, making room for an orderly row of Amethysts to line up in formation. They stood ramrod straight, saluting in perfect synchronicity. Holly Blue Agate was nowhere to be seen. Carnellian and the skinny Beta kindergarten Jasper were positioned at the back of the lineup, like afterthoughts.

“Have you all met… Steevon?” Blue asked, playing along. The amethysts nodded.

“Pink took a trip to our zoo recently.”

Steven frowned, upset that he was going to hear more of the ‘pink’ spiel from them too. “I’m Steven, remember?” They nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably. They were still holding the salute.

“You guys can chill,” he said. Stony salutes met his eyes.

“…at ease?” Steven squeaked. As a unit, they relaxed their arms. Blue watched with attentive interest.

“How recently was this trip?” she asked, thinking about her own attempts to gather humans for the zoo. Perhaps, something in these quartzes had stirred Pink’s memory. “You requested an apple from the zoo a little after your return to Homeworld.”

“I did. Um, to eat. I had one there before… maybe a couple of months ago? Gosh, it really feels like it’s been years…” Steven struggled to admit, clamming up.

Blue focused her attention on Lars. He frowned.

“This Lars is a human, right? It wouldn’t happen to have been a donation from a Sapphire, would it?”

Lars edged away from the conversation uncomfortably. He felt much more interested in a large ship, docked in front of a giant, sunlit window pane. Two massive jet engines jutted from the back of the ship structure, and its angular surfaces glistened with indigo and purple paints. Even more strangely colored ladies were lifting supplies onto it- and they weren’t asking questions that made him feel like an inanimate object.

Steven turned to notice Lars wandering away and gulped. He pivoted back to Blue Diamond. “No… um… you met my dad, that’s who you’re thinking about.”

“Dad? I’ve heard of those once, in an old report. What does purpose does a ‘dad’ serve?”

Steven began sweating profusely.

“Lars?? I’m gonna need your help over here, buddy!”

Lars startled, taking his eyes off the ship. He made direct eye contact with the giant blue lady. She was looking at Lars too, but unlike Steven, it was in consternation. He recognized that look from Yellow Diamond, as if he were something nasty a cat had dragged in. The whole room was staring bullets into his skull. Some of the gems nearby even gripped at large, club like objects…

“…yeah, Steven?” He mumbled, strutting back to the array of amethysts. “What’s up?”

Steven scooted close to Lars, moving to take his hand. Lars slid it smoothly away, crossing his arms over his chest. The two of them awkwardly stood in place, not quite meeting each other’s eyes.

“…uh… I forgot! Haha,” Steven joked, trying to release the tension. The many other gems resumed their work loading different space vessels.

“Steevon, I asked you what a Dad was,” Blue gently reminded.

Lars’ eyes crinkled, imagining what he was about to explain, probably not just to Steven, but also to a giant blue lady he had joked about dating earlier. Steven glanced at Lars, catching and amplifying his discomfort.

“You say I have met one, but I cannot identify such a time,” Blue elaborated.

Steven perked up, able to answer this one. “It was in Korea! That’s an Earth country where… um, you… uh, landed there in your palanquin with him and… oh my gosh you were _talking about me and I **didn’t even know**_ -”

“ _Pink_.”

Steven looked up. Lars did not like that tone.

“Pink, did you see me and a… red, round shaped human?”

“…yeah. That human is my dad.”

Blue pondered the idea for a moment. Pink had been stranded an awfully long time, away from all of her friends and court. It made sense that she tried to reassemble one on Earth. “Then you are lucky to have had such a figure. Dads must be wise counselors. I hope the one I found is doing alright in the zoo.”

Nearly the entire array of Amethysts stared at each other, trying to die without attracting too much attention. Since having their positions relieved to return to Pink’s court, they hadn’t really thought about their attempt at what they now classed as high treason. Lars turned, noticed their panicked expressions, and looked back to Steven. The younger boy’s eyes were closed and his emotional state inscrutable.

Blue lowered a hand to Steven, beckoning him on with a finger. Gently, he hooked onto her thumb, only making the most ginger motions. Blue lifted him, slowly, deliberately. “Pink, I know you said you haven’t got any of your memories… but I have so many questions. Here might not be the place for them. May we talk, in private?” She avoided looking at Lars, but, her roving eyes did not miss the shaking, terrified countenances on the amethysts.

Steven pictured Garnet. He imagined Pearl, he channeled his inner Amethyst, and he wondered what Greg would do. Connie would know, he thought. Lars, the real Lars, might even have been able to help him. For now, though, he was working on his own judgement. What if he said something Blue didn’t like? What if… she…

“Can we talk after we go to Earth?” Steven tried, meeting her concerned expression with pleading eyes. “There’s something you need to see there that can help you understand. It’ll explain everything.”

Blue looked doubtful. “Pink. Now is not the time for more foolishness. And speaking of explaining…” The amethysts froze in place, unable to breathe.

Steven’s mouth quivered. He’d only made it worse. The shaking travelled, leaving him jelly legged, forcing him to sit down on the giant hand that could crush him at any second-

“Oh, Pi-Steven,” she murmured, holding him close. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t mean to frighten you. You’ve only just come back from that horrible place.”

Lars rolled his eyes. The amethysts settled down, tentatively.

“Blue Diamond,” Steven tried, flailing next to her face. She let him have some room. “A lot, a lot happened. I… I don’t think I’m ready to talk about everything yet.”

“That’s to be expected. A diamond shouldn’t have to worry,” she said, projecting her voice to the whole room, to be safe. “Why don’t we have these amethysts explain?” Steven cringed, not wanting to throw them under the knife, but not seeing a lot of alternatives.

“Y-yes, my Diamond,” chimed a tall Amethyst in the center. “Let us help!”

“Yes, ma’am!” echoed several companions. Steven sighed, turning to face them. He nodded. Blue set him back on the floor again and crouched as slow as was dignified. Other gems in the room took that as a not-so-subtle cue to leave. Lars watched them file out.

“That is what we called them over here for, yes? Well, Amethysts. Regale us. How did Pink come to the zoo? How was her trip?”

“It was actually around the same time as your visit,” a short gem in the back piped up. Blue had to strain to hear. “Pink Diamond came dressed like that, with a Sapphire escorting her.”

“Did she now? You said there were gems on Earth, Pink, but a Sapphire? Really?”

“Pink Diamond said… um, that she was a human,” one of the amethysts in the back said, unable to stop herself. Steven gave her a hopeful smile, and she blushed deep violet.

“Come again?”

“P-pink Diamond… said she was a human, my Diamond.”

Blue sized up Steven, not seeing many similarities between the two specimens. “Well, what did she do next?”

The amethysts looked at each other, then hastily at Steven. He gave them a big thumbs up. Lars felt a little left out of all the secret info passing between everybody.

“Well, we all believed it… she matched up on the database as organic, and um, we put her in the zoo!”

Blue Diamond waited patiently.

“She figured out how to get out on her own, of course,” one of the Amethysts noted.

“Right after you and Yellow Diamond arrived!” Carnellian joined in.

Steven froze.

“ _Did she_.”

“Yep! And she left right after you did,” Another Amethyst agreed. “Very short, totally unremarkable visit.”

“That’s the whole story!” The first Amethyst noted, flashing Steven a winning smile. They had done it! They had successfully covered up Greg’s escape! They… lied to Blue! Straight to her face, for Pink! It felt good to serve the diamond they were originally made for.

“Pink. _Steeven_. Why don’t we talk _now_.”

Lars felt the tension in the room ratchet up, and he did not like it. If Blue so much as looked at him funny, he was going to make a run for it.

Steven felt glued to the floor. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He… failed. Spectacularly. Blue was mad, about who knew what… and was surely not going to believe he and Pink weren’t the same person, and that Pink wasn’t playing some obscenely cruel, 5000-year-long joke.

“Come here,” she ordered, lowering her hand. The ground shook with the impact.

“STEVEN COME ON!” Lars yelled, grasping his only companion by the arm and running. “WE’RE LEAVING!”

The Amethysts stood to attention, about to block Lars, then hesitated. A few in the back even moved to follow, before a roaring shout brought them to a halt.

“Oh, no you DON’T,” Blue ordered, raising her hand to summon an orb of neon light.

Lars was too quick, however, and had already gotten Steven to the open ship door.

“Stop them!” she ordered, hobbling towards the ship as much as she could in the too-short room.

Inside the ship, an overly charged Lars finagled with a control-panel looking object. “How does this thing even work?!”

“The panel!” Steven managed, gasping for breath. The ruby ship he had flown before had a control panel operated by hand. If he could slide the notch-

A rumble clattered, and the ship started forward, making an unearthly grinding noise across the ground.

“There!” Lars shouted, knocking a switch up. The grinding stopped, and Steven accelerated a control lever. They accelerated forwards, and the ship smacked through a window, shattering the glass into a hundred pieces.

“Stop!” Blue commanded. “You’ll hit-”

_CRASH!_

The ship came to a halt, embedded in a tower wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Semester started. Blegh," the Shiba groans. Its little paws type fastidiously at the keyboard.
> 
> "But this is an igloo?" you note. "Do you remote in?"
> 
> The Shiba giggles. "No, silly, but I will be updating slower than before."
> 
> That makes sense. You nuzzle into your blanket, imagining building a second room in the igloo from the light snowfall outside.


	6. Steven's Interlude

“I hope he’s ok…” Steven mumbled, nuzzling deeper into the featureless stone floor. He hated it, he hated what Rose Qu- Pink Diamond, he hated what Pink was putting him through. Why hadn’t she left him _anything_ useful about the gem he inherited, or the entire society he was supposed to be handling? Did any of the Crystal gems know?

He felt even worse just thinking about how he had left them. He’d thought Lars surviving was good enough- but it wasn’t! Now his only friend had been taken away somewhere, and he was getting a punishment that Steven should have been able to protect him from.

The corrupted gems were still on Earth, and none of the other diamonds understood the situation any more than he did. He’d done everything he could to make them see reason, but a string of coincidences painted him to be the bad guy his mom was. He planned to accept her punishment as Rose… but whatever Pink was expecting back home was downright inhumane. Only the most diabolical villains would leave their family locked up in a tower like… like Princess Kami from Lonely Blade.

Steven groaned, ripping at his hair.

“I… I’m sorry,” he cried, wishing Lars could hear him. Steven would do anything, even be Pink for a while, if that was what it took to make sure Lars was ok. Alone, scared- and a totally different person, when it came down to brass tacks, Lars didn’t deserve the heaps of pain hopped and piled upon him.

That was it then, he decided. Lars comes first.

The door of the tower opened, and his jumped to his feet. Blue Diamond was there at the door, tear stricken. Her thousands of years of grief must have been leaving aftershocks.

“…I… I’m sorry too, Pink,” she said. “You’re still so young… come here.”

Steven approached her cautiously, for the first time letting her height intimidate him. He knew so little about Homeworld, the Diamonds, and even himself. It was all reeling. She picked him up in a gentle embrace, holding him to her face again. Soppy tears dribbled down them both.

The moment subsided, and they looked honestly at each other. “My friend. Lars,” he said, staring hopefully. “Is he alright?”

Blue frowned. “Of course. He’s being seen to. Now stop fussing, he’s just a faulty organic. You can have another one.”

“…Blue Diamond,” Steven tried. “I’m part organic.”

“…Pink, don’t do this again. _Please_.”

“You don’t understand, but maybe-”

“Enough,” she ordered with finality.

“No, you need to understand! I meant what I said. I’m not Pink Diamond. My name is Steven Quartz Universe, I’m half-human, half-gem. My dad is Greg and Pink Diamond was my mom. I have her gem, but that’s not who I am!”

Blue looked on the verge of collapse. She held Steven at arm’s length, not sure what she wanted to do with the subject of her grief. Pink had changed.

“You keep on lying and lying,” she warbled. “You’ve been sneaking and cheating and deceiving us for… thousands of years. If you really were sorry… you’d have stopped.”

“What if I’m telling the truth? About my memories, my name, even who I am-” Steven pled, getting on his knees. “How can I prove it to you? What’s something Pink would never do?”

“…nothing. There’s… there’s nothing you won’t do to get your way once you’re set on something.” Steven’s face fell, picturing who his mom used to be. “But, your Amethysts did say you register as organic. If you aren’t Pink as you say, what motive did you have to go to the zoo?”

Steven perked up. “My dad. You… took my dad. I wanted him back.”

“How did you get there, then?”

“A bunch of Rubies came to Earth to look for Peridot and Jasper, they left their ship behind.”

Blue struggled for a moment. “They were finding the missing gems who were checking on the cluster, I remember. Ah, but you don’t know what that is.”

“It’s the huge geoweapon in the Earth.”

“…how do you know of it? It was made after… after...”

“I talked to it!” Steven gloated. “It’s bubbled now. Sorry for ruining your weapon and all, but it didn’t want to destroy the planet. It was the cluster’s choice.”

“ _Stop_ ,” she ordered. “I said that I refused to believe any more inanity. The cluster is _not capable_ of thought.”

Steven shook his head, sitting down. “It’s a lot to process, but you can look yourself if you don’t believe me. It’s all true. The cluster bubbled itself.”

Blue set down Steven, hoping to contemplate in silence for a while. The way she saw things, she was either looking at Pink, after thousands of years of impractical jokes, or… Steven. Pink would have known about the zoo, the Amethysts, the sankayan… and especially the damage done Homeworld by her absence. The Pink Diamond that she knew was never so cruel, and she refused to believe even Earth could corrupt her precious baby that much. She doubted even a Sapphire could find a motive for Pink’s actions, if they were as described. Pink’s new behavior was incredibly elaborate, but if anybody could hold up an illusion for that long, she could. A niggling component of her personality still didn’t want to accept what was staring her in the face: Pink no longer cared for her Homeworld.

Steven on the other hand, was a hideous, squishy effigy of her beloved Pink. White hadn’t said anything about ‘Steven’ yet, but perhaps that was a trap. If Pink really was gone, the organic hybrids’ actions made sense, save one thing. What about Pink’s shattering? ‘Steven’ didn’t know at the trial how it had happened, but his Zircon had provided excellent evidence that foul play was afoot. Steven had been able to summon Pink’s telepathy when he was grieving for his friend, and nothing she knew of could fake such a feeling. She _knew_ grief better than anyone. What had happened all those years ago if Pink’s gem was alive and well?

Had she been healed? When did Rose Quartz factor in?

Just then, the diamond chime echoed. Blue’s eyes opened wide in alarm.

“…I… I have to go,” she rushed. “Something urgent must be happening. Pearl will see you back to your quarters.”

“But what about my friend Lars, isn’t- aaaand she’s gone.”

As promised, Blue Pearl appeared in a flash of soft light in front of Steven. The door to his cell remained open for them, but was slowly creaking shut.

“I have to find my friend Lars. Can you help me?”

Blue Pearl bowed. “My Diamond, I can lead him to your chambers.”

“REALLY?!” Steven cheered, eyes glowing.

“As quickly as can be arranged,” she elaborated. “Please come this way.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~

Back in his room, Steven was greeted by a locked door and an expanse of bleak emptiness. Despite Blue Pearl’s reassurances, he felt incredibly uncomfortable the more he waited. He had a lot of area to explore, but he wasn’t quite feeling up to it. He watched from the windowsill, picturing the crowds of gems pattering about underfoot. What did they care about? Who were they hoping to save today?

“Urggghhh… I need to find Lars,” Steven reminded himself. He hadn’t been able to get through to Blue yet, but he was close. If only he could make her stay and listen. Yellow had been even less helpful.

 _How could anybody live somewhere so empty?_ He wondered, tapping at a wall idly.

Behind him, he heard a crisp noise. Turning, he spotted a collection of small, grey gems building something.

“Oh!” He cried, running over to them. They darted away, into nooks and crannies in the wall and flooring. “Please, come back. I’m lonely.”

The gems poked their heads out again, making cooing noises.

“…What are you little guys making? I wanna see.”

They shyly resumed their work, putting their full force into scaling, cutting, and mending segments of wall into a pink object of some kind. It was growing more and more complex: wires began extending downwards, upwards, and through gaps in the floor.

Gently, the gems vanished, sliding into tiny staircases.

“What is it?” he asked. They didn’t reply, nor peep out at him. He shrugged.

The device they had constructed looked like a tablet without glass. A frame encircled it, concealing several connections. Even outside his range of vision, he could see the wires being pulled taut. The tangle gradually faded from view.

He set a hand on the panel. To his disbelieving eyes, the hastily built device began to emit a soft, white glow. A screen materialized, like one of Peridot’s: it bore a picture of Lars just after the crash. Steven saw his arm in the corner of the frame.

“Thank you,” Steven said gazing deeply into the image.

“It really is you!” The pebbles mumbled, crawling up from their perches. “Pink’s back!”

The youngest Crystal Gem didn’t notice them. He was too busy memorizing what went wrong, and how he might make things right.

He hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shiba is shaking. 
> 
> "Are you cold?" You ask the shiba inu.
> 
> "I'm crazy, crazy excited! The hour special, Change Your Mind airs tomorrow!"
> 
> "Why should that matter?" you snark. "You made a short chapter."
> 
> "That's what you think," the shiba says. "I wrote a little ahead. Enjoy the suspense."


End file.
